Preston Street for Dinner?

It’s Friday night in Como. Where shall we go for dinner? Preston Street of course! Sunset view down the hill, sails on the water, a cool drink to hand. Ahh, I love this place.

Now, what can we do to make it even better? What if we encouraged the restaurants to place tables on the pavement, leaving a walkway on the building side? Patrons at Just Tapas, Empress, Coffee at Cygnet, Wild Lime, Golden Mile, Lago di Como and others could enjoy sunset even more.

Then what if we did a bit of engineering and shaped the pavement a bit so tables stood straight? What if the businesses chipped in for the cost? What if we had a bit of gentle street music?

Do you have an idea? If we work with our Council we can do wonders with our City. Click on Comments below or just email me, to have your thoughts published here.

Highlights and Thank You

People of our City are amazing. Over the past four years as Councillor I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with wonderful community members. So many people are contributing their time, energy, skills and funds towards the future of our neighbourhood.

Some of the high points have been:

• The Friends of McDougall Park, who get together to tidy, weed and manage a beautiful locality. This park is an oasis of peace, where a pair of black swans is  nesting right now.

• Lyndon Lewis, who has personally contributed very large sums towards environmental landscaping of the Canning River shoreline.
• Members of Neighbourhood Watch, who work tirelessly to make our suburbs safer. It has been my pleasure to chair some of their Council liaison meetings and to design their web site.
• The people of Como, who value their neighbours, trust each other and regularly turn out at our Tea in the Park events, and join conversation about our future.
• The crew at SERCUL, working every day to safeguard our rivers. I’ve learned a lot while representing the City at SERCUL and while chairing the Local Government Reference Group of Perth Region Natural Resources Management Group.
• The Heritage Society, who have such passionate and interesting members, working on historical, natural and artistic heritage of the City.
• Millennium Kids, who create the leaders of tomorrow, conscious of our world.
• Members of Perth Bushwalkers, for whom I’ve been the Treasurer, sharing appreciation of our rich natural diversity.
• SIDS Foundation, based in our City and achieving wonders for families across WA.
• The Library team at the City, who have created a wondrous space.

• The Staff and Councillors at the City of South Perth, who show how good a local Council can be.

I’ve also learned a lot while being on bodies such as the WA Local Government Standards Panel, consultation groups around transport, light rail and river management, the Local Chambers business group and quite a few others.

Thank you to all of these people, for allowing me to be part of what you do and to contribute my own pieces to your objectives. It has been a satisfying, positive and enjoyable four years.

What more can we do together? How can we all make a difference? What do you think? Comment below, or email me, and I’ll get your thoughts published here.

 

Trust and Economy of our City

Do we think enough about what makes our local economy work? Transport, housing, environment, community services and sense of place all get attention at Council level. But what do we need to do to build local businesses, jobs and economic connections?

Trust is the bit we take for granted and it is the core of what makes Australia work, as a community and as an economy. In many poor countries there exists a culture that says it’s OK to cheat someone who is not a family member. In some places cheating is even seen as a sign of clever business. Willingness to trust strangers is what puts Australia at the top of league tables charting economic strength. It’s also why I enjoy street food markets in Asia.

Our position on the trusting spectrum is what makes us different. Trust is so much a part of our life that we treat it like oxygen. We trust that our customers will pay us, that our land tile is secure, that our kids will learn useful skills and sound values at school. We trust our friends, our neighbours and strangers at the shop. Is this the key to developing local jobs and being more of the village community that many of us seek? Is trust an asset to be nurtured, one of which we are not aware?

While the mining economy powers ahead, should we do more to consciously build local economies and promote local jobs? Can we have more jobs near where we live? Do we have to treat our suburb like a dormitory that we leave every morning for work, and return to, for food and sleep? Can we build local business so we are more a part of the life in the veins of our community?

Can the large number of home and small-office consultancies be part of this. Will National Broadband allow businesses to be quite different to anything in our past. I already know people who work for big UK and USA businesses, while living in Perth, using the Internet to help them service opposite time zones. Will the development of one of the world’s biggest super-computers in Kent Street next year spur innovation? Could Mend’s Street be the centre for fashion retail in WA? Can services for education capitalise on the rapid growth of Curtin Uni?

At Council this week I commenced a formal conversation around how we can promote the City’s economy. We went on to include this topic in the CEO’s key performance indicators for 2012. My dream is that Council can do much more in this direction. We’ve already begun, with a vision for Canning Bridge and for the area between the Freeway and the Zoo. The new library has small rooms available for business start-ups and community groups. Manning Hub redevelopment includes a significant business rejuvenation. There is thought around a business component of funding heritage preservation and the Old Mill.

What structures, ideas, inspirations and changes can we promote? How can we make a difference? What do you think? Comment below, or email me, and I’ll get your thoughts published here.

Empty Seats on Council

Nominations for WA Local Council seats close on Thursday afternoon 8 September 2011. Does this matter to you?

A number of Councils around the State still have empty positions. Others have only one person nominating in many Wards. Sometimes this means a good person gets straight in without being distracted from their good works; other times it means that a less skilled person get to lead your community.

Do you care enough to make a difference?

If you are reflecting on how you might contribute to the City’s future, and what it takes to do it well, you might like to look into one of my questioning blogs by clicking here.

There are some interesting electoral profiles out there. I like to look at what a person has done already, before I look at their view of the future. Oh, and I hope they have such a thing as a view. My ideal candidate should have an active history, should care a lot about others, should have already done a lot for others, should be a good listener and should have a focus on what our City will be like in our grandkids’ time.

My ideal candidate might have some connection with politics, but must be able to bring their personal values to the Council Chamber, and leave their party allegiances outside. They really must be able to work together and, when necessary, to disagree agreeably. Oh, and quite a few, I hope, don’t fit the standard model of greying male. (There are enough of us already.)

Go on, like Ernie says, get out there.

Do you have something to add? Click on Comments below or just email me, to have it published here.

 

Happy Birthday Perth

This week in 1829 the City of Perth was founded. (Lisa Scafidi has just alerted me to this fact.) A hundred and thirty five years earlier, in 1696, Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh landed here. For many thousands of years before that the original inhabitants had built a strong relationship with this place.

The early European settlers nearly starved. South Perth Mill was built to grind wheat, grown where the Royal Perth Golf Club now resides. The mill was our first industrial development.

The mill and the peninsular represent many things in both Colonial and Indigenous history. For this reason the proposed museum here will show both lines of history. Recognition of this is important to our future. Our old buildings, artefacts, oral and written history, works of art, our people and much else make up this history. My recent blog on preserving Heritage House asks about ways to show our respect for South Perth’s heritage in its many lines.

Susan Harris and others have written about early farms, bird nesting sites, an old fig tree, Canning River wrecks, dreaming and learning trails, artists such as May Gibbs and very much more. Susan’s thoughts about the depth of our shared heritage, what that might include and how we might preserve and understand it can be downloaded here.

In any case, the matter is a broad one and we do things better in this city  when we all contribute to the conversation. A motion to Council next week asks us to investigate building a community reference group around heritage matters. There are other views developing around this theme as we begin to appreciate heritage value in a time of rapid change. Do you have something to add? Click on Comments below or just email me, to have them published here.

Our Safer City

What a community this is. We want a safer city and we are doing something about it. We take responsibility, we work together, we look out for our neighbours.

The City’s planning approach now includes a Design-Out-Crime aspect, so that our streets are in clear view and have lots of pedestrians. We try to make our precincts active at all times of day. Neighbourhood Watch is very active, with members all over the place; members use the new web site we set up to make contact and update information. Since I started the wipe-out-graffiti project others have joined in, cleaning the streets of scribble as fast as it appears. This is all about people reclaiming their own streets.

Moorditch Keila, with support of the Council and SouthCare, has done wonderful things to connect indigenous young people. They’ve organised regular sporting and cultural events, had a lot of fun and significantly reduced the trouble that some members had got into.

Our Sports clubs are a really big part of enjoying life and connecting people, young and old. Hundreds of volunteers give their time and skills to make life better for others. Youth groups like SPYN- South Perth Youth Network, develop opportunities for young people and enjoy doing it. The image of our City is changing fast, getting even better and includes young people in our future.

By bringing young people into our lives, our planning for the future and everything we do, our City is safer, more enjoyable and more likely to be resilient in a changing world. Millennium Kids has really connected with hundreds of young people. Hey they even have a project called ‘Have Fun, Eat Chocolate & Care for the Environment.’ Older people have formed groups such as Friends of McDougall Park to take care of local parks, making them cleaner and safer for all of us.

Since we started Next Door Day on the last Sunday in October each year, so many people have taken up the idea, as far away as east coast towns. Inviting the neighbours over for food and drink, sharing  and having a chat has been popular and fun. It also makes our neighbourhood connected and safe. We’ll be doing it again this year.

We don’t outsource our caring about safety to a contractor, we don’t delude ourselves that private security cars make any difference. Melville has had security patrols for many years. People there like seeing the cars around a couple of times a year, but doubt their effectiveness. The Mayor of Melville comments that for workplace safety reasons the patrol officers must not approach possible offenders. Patrols must stay back, observe and call the police, just like any other resident. As I learned a few years ago, when my son was looking at jobs, private security officers are often new arrivals in Perth, working night shift, on their first jobs here. It’s a thankless, boring job, with little backup or support.

Working with our Police officers from Cannington and Kensington, especially on community projects, has had much better results. Our Eyes on the Street project has involved nearly everyone in the City, so that there are literally thousands of people watching out for each other, keeping us safe. By supporting the work of WA Police in our City we link to their network, skills and experience. Their fantastic work on Australia Day demonstrated how very effective our police are when the going gets tough.

Yes, our city can be safer, and by watching out for each other, by being involved in our community, we can make it that way. I’m doing my bit for a safe city; won’t you come with me?

Congratulations: Canning Bridge

Woowie! I did the big Toyota leap today when the Planning Minister, John Day, announced that WA State Cabinet has endorsed our plan for Canning Bridge precinct.

Congratulations to all of the hundreds of community members on both sides of the river who have contributed to this plan. Big thanks also to the thoroughly professional staff members and consultants who put it together. Sincere recognition too for the Councillors of South Perth and Melville who worked on and supported the ideas.

This development will be about diversity of lifestyle choices, a lot less use of cars, lower environmental impact and a living space where pedestrians come first. A community style called Transit Oriented Design is based on being close to public transport. The Minister said that he expected that the final developments could see over a billion dollars of State, commercial and private investment in the precinct.

Today’s announcement echoes recent policy announcements indicating that our city will rely less on cars and a lot more on public transport. Detailed planning can now commence, for the myriad things that go into a place where people want to live. Changes won’t happen tomorrow but we are certain to see progress over the forthcoming years.

The first step is likely to be a new bus facility, right off the bridge. This will make the bridge safer, easier to use and will ease the crowding that comes from its popularity. The latest designs were shown this week; they get better with every review.

In living memory the precinct has changed from one with dairy farms and horse transport to being at the front of WA’s developments. My vision is that we continue to be involved all the way, and ensure that this happens the way we want it to. Let’s preserve what we love, change what we need to and build a community that is durable.

Other news of developments in the City this week included the latest proposals for widening of Canning Highway, to accommodate buses or light rail and exciting plans for Manning Hub. Our new street verges policy almost bans plastic grass, while allowing diverse plants and street gardens.

Gee, it’s good to be on a Council that works on strong planning while recognising our past. What a City!

What are your thoughts? Let’s have more positive, optimistic, imaginative ideas for the future of our city. Please click ‘Comments’ below to add your thoughts. Just log in as “Name” (no password required) or email me and I’ll publish your words right here.

Heritage House, South Perth

Our famous and much-loved Heritage House was built in 1904, originally to be the Council House. Since a new Civic Centre was built in 1960 this building has had a number of uses. The building was recognised by the Heritage Council of WA in 1999. This means that the City is required to protect the site. Most recently it has been the home of the May and Herbert Gibbs Art Gallery, recognising the creators of much famous work, including the Gumnut Babies. The rooms also display items of local history, a vital and fascinating link with our past.

Nearby is the Perth Zoo, the destination for six hundred thousand visitors a year. Equally close are coffee shops, other heritage buildings, the lively Windsor Hotel, Mends Street shopping precinct and the ferry to Perth. What is missing is a permanent use and attraction that brings regular visitors, and some way of providing financial support to keep it alive.

Until recently this little gem was staffed by one person and saw almost no visitors. To keep Heritage House going we need imagination, at least one distinct purpose and a full-time staff of at least two. The likely running costs will be about $150,000 per year. How do we do it?

My vision is that we can change the zoning from ‘Civic and Cultural’ to ‘Commercial’ to match that of the rest of the Mends Street area, and create two purposes within the building. One purpose would curate and display works of art and history; the other would contribute to community development while providing funds for operation and maintenance. Oh, and a shop would probably not fit either of these needs.

I have heard that the Australia Day Council of WA has expressed interest in using the facility. Their patron is His Excellency Dr Ken Michael AC, Governor of Western Australia and the Vice Patron is Premier of WA, Colin Barnett.

Another use could be to provide a Sustainability Information and Demonstration centre, supported by relevant industries. This has been done very successfully in Woollahra, Sydney, an area much like South Perth.

What are your thoughts? I’m really interested in hearing positive, optimistic, imaginative ideas for the future of this place. Please click ‘Comments’ below to add your thoughts. Just log in as “Name” (no password required) or email me and I’ll publish your words right here.

Had Enough Graffiti

Care about your street? Tired of scribble? Here’s what I do; you can too. I go to the hardware store, buy a can of discount water-based paint and a cheap brush. I get the shop to add some suitable tint then I get to work in the street.

Where I live my neighbours care about the park. If they see a bit of rubbish, a milk carton or a dog bundle they put it in the bin. In McDougall Park they’ve even formed  Friends of the Park group that keeps the park smart. They even pull up weeds around the lake and check the sand play-pits for sharp objects. Oh, and they all get together for coffee in the park on Sundays.

This is a tremendous place to live and our Council staff do a wonderful job. What is extra-special is that our neighbours do their bit too. All around the City there are local groups looking after their environment. In Manning the residents formed a team with the City to work on mosquito and wetland management. In Jackson Road some residents are working together to plan for the impact of possible traffic changes and to promote light rail along Manning Road. Some home builders are developing methods to stop sand washing into drains from building sites. An action group of dog owners has got together to work out cooperative ways of sharing parks with sporting groups. Some inspired locals have put together sporting and activity groups for young people, such as Moorditch Keila, Millennium Kids, skate, cricket and football clubs .There are plenty more examples around here.

People say that caring for the world around us makes us feel good too. I think that doing it with our friends and neighbours is even better.

As usual, please click ‘Comments’ below to add your thoughts. Just log in as “Name” (no password required) or email me and I’ll publish your words right here.

So You Want to be a Councillor?

Our communities need good leadership. Are you up to it? October is time for the next WA Council elections, in all 139 Council areas. I thought I’d be bold and suggest some attributes that might be valuable to a Councillor. If you are active in local clubs and groups and are concerned about our future, you might like to self-assess.

MUST HAVE

• Interest in long-term direction of your local community
• Listening skills, prepared to listen more often than to tell
• Prepared to meet with the community, often
• At least one, and often two or three evenings a week to dedicate to the community
• Able to read and understand a voluminous weekly information pack
• Ability to think strategically about organisational purpose
• Effective decision-making skills
• Understand the difference between individual and group decision-making
• Able to work to sustain long-term viability and define values for self and the Council
• Able to imagine and lead new future directions
• Empathy
• Able to discuss widely differing opinions respectfully and to disagree agreeably
• Able to synthesise direction amidst complexity and conflicting values and objectives
• Understand the difference between management and leadership (councillors have no executive authority at all)
• Not be focussed on a ‘single issue’
• Be prepared to assess your own biases and positions

SHOULD HAVE

• Ability to read and interpret financial reports
• Sense of humour
• Collaborative style
• Wide range of contacts and life experience
• Be well travelled and widely read
• An enquiring mind
• Risk assessment skills
• Open to continuous learning

GOOD TO HAVE

• Expertise in at least one relevant field, e.g. architecture, town planning, finance, environment, waste, law, social services, communications, psychology, science.
• Board experience
• Qualifications such as MBA, GAICD (Australian Institute of Company Directors)
• Preparedness to respond with good grace and respect in all sorts of circumstances
  
  
• Please realise too that the maximum allowance for your work is between nine and thirty thousand dollars a year (edited 2013), so you really do have to be motivated by spirit.
  The vital point is that you can make a real difference to the present and future of your community.
  Oh, and if you live in South Perth, don’t forget Tea and Talk in the Park, Sunday 15 May 2011, 3 pm, McDougall Park
  As usual, please click ‘Comments’ below to add your thoughts. Just log in as “Name” (no password required) or email me and I’ll publish your words right here.

Como Tea in the Park

You are invited! To another of our Como community tea conversations. Come and have your say about anything you like, to do with our community in South Perth. Your Councillors (Glen Cridland and myself) will be there, together with lots of other people. I’ll bring tea, coffee and biscuits. Please feel free to bring along some scones or whatever you’d like to share.

There is quite a lot happening: weather changes, Canning Bridge development, new coffee shops, housing, light rail, Curtin Uni growth and lots more. We’ll do our best to answer questions and we’ll certainly listen to YOU.

See you on Sunday 15 May at 3 pm. at McDougall Park, Clydesdale St, Como.

If you can’t be there please let us read your comments. Click on Comments below and tell us all what you think. Just log in as “Name” (no password required) or email me and I’ll publish your words right here.

Please Steal This Idea

Here’s an opportunity to (almost) disconnect part of the City from the power grid, burn less coal and save money! Opportunities like this are not common and this one is fairly easy to imagine.

We are proposing to rezone a mixed- use area of 1950s single-story houses, currently used for consulting rooms of various sorts, and some small blocks of flats. The patch is opposite the Perth Zoo, between Richardson Park cricket ground and the Mill Point freeway off- ramp. Proposed new zoning is to allow taller buildings with the first three storeys extending out to the boundaries of blocks over 1000 square metres and to then extend upward to 25 or 41 metres with thinner set-back spires. This will allow air and light between buildings without an imposing visual effect.

Now for the action! We could use an energy configuration known as “Tri-Generation”. This would involve a gas-fired local generator, supplying electricity to all properties within the precinct. Such local generation would avoid the very significant financial and environmental costs of burning inefficient coal at Collie. We’d also avoid transmission losses, estimated at about 6% of total cost. The generator would operate from a building the size of a small house. That’s the first big win.

Now, the waste heat from this generator could heat water, to be piped around the precinct, warming offices in winter and powering air- conditioners in summer. I have seen and read of this operating in many places already, such as Woking, UK and Tromso, Sweden. Sydney is rethinking its CBD energy system this way, with inspiration from Alan Jones. There’s another big win here- no heating and cooling costs, a big number.

Part 3 would be to require all new developments to install rooftop solar PhotoVoltaic panels and wind micro- turbines, but not to install inverters (a major part of the costs for standard PV systems.) These panels would be required to connect directly to a neighbourhood Direct Current network, connected to a control system and inverter at the power building. There the DC current would be switched to AC and supplied to the same local grid as used by the gas generator. The area is swept daily by winds across Melville Water. Protection will be needed for migratory birds.

For security of supply the precinct would maintain connection to the Synergy grid, and contracted with the best bid from a commercial supplier, of which there are several. As the generator would work at optimum revolutions, excess power could be routed to the grid at an agreed feed-in tariff rate.

Binding this technical system together would be a financial structure based on a public-private partnership and energy supply contracts similar to strata title. Projected cost savings are expected to be above twenty per cent. Environmental benefits are significant.

This is going to take a bit of new thinking, something that we are good at in WA. Please let’s read your comments. Click below and log in as Name or Anonymous or send me an email and I’ll publish for you.

Imagine the Possible

Light rail from Canning Bridge to Curtin Uni then onwards to Victoria Park, Perth City, West Perth, the hospitals and UWA? A lot less cars on the road, safer travel and cleaner air?

Party time in South Perth, Angelo Street Fiesta. Hey, what if this were to be a taste of the future for places like Angelo Street, Preston Street and Manning Hub?

Sidewalk cafes, stalls on the last Saturday of the month, a licenced restaurant or three, people out and seeing friends, what a spirited place this could be.

A shuttle bus from Canning Bridge to the Zoo, a rail station at South Perth, complete redevelopment of the Richardson to Judd Street area, an iconic new business, commercial and residential development in the Civic Triangle behind the old Police Station, a museum and cultural precinct at the Old Mill?

What else is possible in our City?

In 2008- 09 more than two thousand people were involved in the City Vision project, thinking about our future in 2030. Residents, Councillors, facilitators, teachers and lots of others contributed to an imaginative project. Now I think it’s time to confirm that we have consensus on this view, modifying it if necessary. Then we can develop a consistent set of long- term goals and plan for ways to achieve them.

Of course we’ll have a wide range of conversations about our life and our City. That is tremendous.

Would you like to start now? Click on Comments below and tell us all what you think. Just log in as “Name” (no password required) or email me and I’ll publish your words right here.

What a Waste? Ah- hah!!

What if we used our hundreds of hectares of land- fill rubbish tips as solar power generating sites? These old tips are too unstable and often too toxic to ever build houses on. However, they are flat, they are close- by and they are near the grid. Oh, and we have lots of sun.

For decades we have dumped our rubbish in big pits around the city, often in old sand mines. The older ones weren’t even lined. Nearly all of them are covered over now. At some we generate power by burning the methane gas they emit. This gas is running out as the rubbish rots away. That business model is about to disappear. However, these sites have exiting power lines that already link to the WA grid.

Some tip sites might suit solar power generation; others might suit wind power. The photo shows how companies in Victoria already generate energy on site, in this case with roof- top wind power.

Our city’s energy is highly dependent on a gas pipeline from Veranus Island. A couple of years ago this source suffered short- term catastrophic failure in mid- summer; we sweated. Prudent risk management suggests that we need alternative sources of energy. Large solar sources could provide part of such alternatives.

Our highest power use is in day time, in hot weather, when the sun shines. We already have a bit of stand- by diesel power for night time. There are three more 10 Mw diesel plants in construction- just to stand by in case of emergency.

The land surface of our tips is continually subsiding. This is one reason we should not build houses on them. The local manager for a large solar power company says that their automatic tracking technology could easily and continuously adjust solar panels for this subsidence.

Local Councils own the tip land. By reaching commercial arrangement with power companies Councils could become their own power utilities or could supply to the grid. Continuity of tenure to enable a return on investment would be a question easily resolved in law.

By offsetting our tip methane emissions with renewable power generation we can provide a financial benefit to our residents.

So, we diminish our power bill, we reduce carbon emissions, we receive a feed- in tariff from the State Government, we make use of wasteland. Is this something we can work on?

Have your say, please. Just click on “Comments” below.

As Lamppost is to Dog …

Gee Community Democracy is wonderful. Nothing like pets to get people on their feet. Last week 277 residents, mainly dog owners, turned out to show their feelings about our new dog laws. Opinions were expressed with passion; not all the answers satisfied everybody. Some attendees felt afraid to speak, others spoke strongly.

Dozens of community meetings have happened over the past few years. This is such a good City to be in and these are such good people to represent. This spirit of involvement keeps us on our toes.

Just sometimes though, it feels like Councillor is to Community as lamppost is to dog. When we make decisions at open meetings, with an almost unattended public gallery, we are accused of deciding in secret. When we listen to new ideas and learn of new facts we are accused of changing our minds. Sometimes, at personal and political risk, I feel like quoting John Howard, who asked a journalist “When the facts change I change my mind. What do you do?” When we take into account a range of other people’s values and visions we are accused of not listening.

What is certain, is that different people attach different value to many places. One piece of open space often has a range of values to Noongar people, to environmental managers, fisher- folk, dog owners, dance groups, walkers, kite enthusiasts and so on.

Still, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Sooo, the next Como “Tea in the Park” will be at 3 p.m. on a Sunday in a few weeks time at McDougall Park (date to be advised). Please come along, bring a chair, enjoy a cuppa and conversation, let your Councillors know what is important to you.

Meanwhile, please feel free to have your say in public by clicking on Comments below, login as Anonymous or Name, or just email me, and I’ll publish your words for you.